Step Out On The Streets With These Eco-friendly Footwear!8 min read

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Venkatesh

Founder at The Conscious Humans

Hey there, I'm Venkatesh and I hail from the City of Nawabs- Lucknow. I started my journey in environmental activism and volunteering from 2019. Have more than 3+ years of on-ground experience and leading teams. My motive? To bring out new ideas and spread awareness on topics regarding climate change and leading a sustainable lifestyle.

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Fast fashion has gotten to the nerves of all of us. On top of CO2 emissions being one of the major sources of pollution deriving from the fast fashion industry, garments are also a huge source of microplastics. Added to that, the footwear industry in today’s time is blooming with a range of brands offering shoes, slippers, sandals, flip-ons composed of material that is harmful to the environment. What’s the solution– Funky eco-friendly shoes for you!

Your pair of sneakers alone generates 30 pounds of CO2 emissions, keeping a 100-watt light bulb on for a week. One of the largest environmental impacts of shoes come from the manufacturing stages of the shoe life cycle.

No matter our budget, there are alternatives available online with brands competing to bring out more showy and cheap options out in the market but have we ever wondered about what material is it made of? Have you ever thought about what harm will be done to the planet once you use and throw away that pair of funky shoes that you looked cool with? Have you wondered how was this pair of sandals made and is the material really vegan and ethical?

In Hindi we say “Fikr Not, Ham Hai Na” which translates to don’t stress, we’re here for you. We’re gonna present you with brands making a bold statement in the field of sustainability through their appealing and eco-friendly footwear. What’s the plus point? They are way cooler and more economical than you are thinking they must be besides being vegan too!

Pssssss, so vegan shoes doesn’t mean you can eat up these pair of shoes. Eww, no. It means that the material used to make these footwear are organic and no animals have been harmed in the making nor any animal by-product has been used. They are eco-friendly!

Now, drum rolls please and Ta-Daa!

neemAn’s

Established in the year 2018 by Taran Chhabra and Amar Preet Singh, Neeman’s was born out of a personal quest to find an all-purpose all-day shoe that is sustainable and eco-friendly for the planet.

Neeman’s is India’s first footwear brand that uses natural, renewable, recycled and biodegradable fibres in its shoes. Want to know an amazing thing about them? Come closer! They have created innovative and unique fibres such as Merino Wool, Natural Cotton, Recycled PET bottles and Recycled Tyres and have recycled over 1 million PET Bottles and tyres. Isn’t that inspirational, making fibre out of items we consider waste? Indeed it is.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to their website to explore their range of products- Relive Knits, Eco Flips, Tree Sneakers and order one for yourself today!

paaduks

Birthchild of Jay Rege, the word Paaduks is derived from the Sanskrit word- ‘Paaduka’ meaning ‘footwear’. Jointly managed by a inspiring team of husband-wife duo, Jay & Jothsna Rege, and their associate Megha Rawat, Paaduks started in the year 2013. It is a unique initiative that attempts at making beautiful handcrafted footwear from used automobile tyres and sharing the profits with cobblers that craft them with much care.

Every pair of footwear produced uses upcycled or already used automobile or airplane rubber tyre as soles. Well this is one half of the good story, want to know about the other half? Cobblers are major partners in the entrepreneurial story of Paaduks. Paaduks realizes that it’s the cobblers that are the backbone of its business and are provides financial assistance for their healthcare, educational and emergency needs.

Till date, Paaduks have recycled 8.5 lakhs kgs of tyres with their eco-friendly range of footwear and still counting. Check them out now!

Greensole

When two athelete friends, Shreyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami got thinking about the big unaddressed problem of 35 crores of shoes being discarded all over the world annualy, they came up with the idea of recycling old pair of shoes. Thus, in 2015, took the birth of Greensole.

The brand started in 2015 with a capital of 10 lakhs to upcycle old pair of shoes into slippers for corporates and has now made a retail presence in 2019 by launching a vegan footwear range. At first they sold recycled shoes to JLL for its CSR initiatives followed by ONGC, Adidas, Sketchers furthermore bagging partnership with more than 65 corporates.

Greensole has provided more than ten lakhs upcycled footwear to the underpriviliged children and they aim to ensure that no one is barefoot by 2023. The retail division of greensole provided fully bio-degradable and eco-friendly footwear. Explore their range of options now!

Feeling good today? Want to do good while saving the planet? You can sponsor a pair of shoes for underpriviliged children or you can even donate your old pair of shoes to Greensole. Check here if you have a collection centre in your city. Proud of you!

paio

Cruelty-free, sustainable and conscious fashion at it’s core, Paio was started by Shweta Nimkar with the vision of making fashion comfortable and stylish, but not at the cost of someone else’s life.

A PETA-approved brand, Paio experiments with new materials and fabrics with each collection, creating unique, ethical and wondrous range of footwear options for women. Their most recent ‘Ecoture Collection’ has introduced footwear made from coconut extracts acquired from agricultural waste. The material is biodegradable and the process is equally sustainable.

Shweta believes that consumers are gradually making a shift towards a more sustainable fashion, choosing alternatives that are cruelty-free. Veganism is not only fashionable but on it’s way to become a ‘Classic’. The question is are you willing to be the one in the journey of making it a ‘Classic’? Then head on to their website to explore and wander around their eco-friendly footwear!

Also check out our other blog: 15 Positive Climate News From Around the World- August Edition!

Cai

The CAI store launched in 2015 with the sole purpose of providing non-leather footwear locally, is the idea of the environmentally-conscious human and shoeaholic Aradhana Minawala. Managed jointly by the cute duo- Aradhana and Dhanraj Minawala, CAI footwear is not only aesthetically appealing but also comfortable and affordable for all!

With an emphasis on aesthetics and functionality, CAI incorporates an eclectic collection ranging from open and closed flats to heels and wedges in multiple colours, patterns, and embellishments.

All their products proudly don the animal-cruelty free tag and do not use any animal by-product. Crafted with much care and heart, it’s alluring to check out their stylish range of eco-friendly footwear. Head over to their website now!

AdiDas Superstar vegan shoes

Surely, there might be Adidas lovers out there who just can’t get enough of those pair of shoes. When the adidas Superstar shoes were launched in the 1970s, they made history with their leather upper and rubber shell toe.

Flash forward to today, and this cultural icon is making history again. The clean design looks just like the original, but now the upper is made with vegan and recycled materials. Better choice for the planet and does the work for you too. Check out the cool pair of sneakers here!

Anddddd that’s a wrap for now everyone. Well, we tried to include brands that are trustworthy, vegan, sustainable, stylish, affordable, comfortable and of all promoting eco-friendly footwear. It’s the need of the hour to start seeing the label of the items we buy before we buy them. Don’t just go around shopping because they’re showy and cheap for you.

One pair of shoes takes 18,000 litres of water to make. Over that, the material used in most of the footwear nowadays is non-biodegradable. Before throwing away that pair of torn sneakers or those old slippers eating dust in your shoe rack, consider getting them fixed by a cobbler. Donate such pairs to the children in need, they would love it!